Technorati Tags: second amendment march, DC, guns, law

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Judge Burger began motorcycle builder Billy Lane’s sentencing hearing today by stating that he had accepted the plea of no contest to the charge of vehicular homicide submitted to him on June 9^th. He then asked State attorney Tom Brown to start with his opening remarks and recommendations for sentencing. Brown began by submitting a score sheet to the court and the reading off several incidents where Billy had been ticketed for speeding and other traffic violations in an attempt to show that this was not an isolated incident. Tom Brown remarked that these incidents of recklessness showed that this was not an isolated incident, but a pattern where someone was bound to get hurt.

Brown went on to graphically describe the recreation and scene of the crash that brought tears to the eyes of both the Morelock family and Billy Lane. Prosecuting attorney Brown showed aerial photos of the crash scene pointing to the clearly marked double yellow line and pointing out that Mr. Lane had several opportunities to get back into his lane. The results (Brown said) of Mr. Lane’s reckless behavior ended the life of Gerald Morelock. The law states that when you take the life of a human being, you go to jail and that is what we are asking for today your Honor. Brown recommended that the judge stay within the criminal guidelines and Lane be sentenced to 111.15 months in prison, which equates to just over 9 years. In a few moments you will be hearing testimony from the members of the victim’s family, Mr. Lane intends to speak and others are here to appear on his behalf. However, the defense has the burden to prove two things. They need to prove that this death was not a sophisticated homicide and that it was an isolated incident. Indeed, if this can be proven, than the court would be allowed, at the Judge’s discretion to downgrade the recommended sentence. State Attorney then rested and turned the floor over to Defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger.

The court room was filled with people in support of Billy lane including Hugh “The Chopper” King, Executive Co Producer and emcee of the television shows Biker Build Off and Motorcycle Mania. Some had a chance to speak, while others where there just to show support for the celebrity motorcycle builder Billy Lane. The general consensus was that Lane could do more to have a positive outcome of the incident if he were not incarcerated by giving back to the community by way of public service announcements and helping to build a non-profit memorial in the name of Gerald Morelock.  There were several who made statements on Billy’s behalf including his Father Warren Lane. Sean Morelock, who has been most affected by the death of his Uncle Gerald said that he had come to realize that Lane could do positive things to help children and felt that would have been what his uncle would have wanted.

 Gerald’s brother, Byron Morelock also spoke saying that it was not necessarily his opinion, but thinks his brother would have wanted good to come from the incident. Both Sean and Byron said that the final decision of Lane’s fate rested in the hand of the court.

Billy Lane was then called to the stand and sworn in to make his statement. This would be the first time that Lane had spoken openly to the public about what happened and his feelings. Billy started out by saying I am here today to show everybody who I am, not who you think I am. Lane showed a great deal of remorse and came to tears on several occasions. He described how he had to pass by the spot where he killed Gerald Morelock almost every day and how he prayed for his soul and his family. Billy Lane admitted that he had made a bad decision and was not asking for pity for what had happened. He said he was sorry and asked forgiveness for taking the life of another human being. He stated that he was ready to accept the court’s decision and accepted responsibility for the death of Gerald Morelock. Though Billy showed a great deal of emotion during the hearing and when he spoke. He showed very little expression as his sentence was read.

After hearing all the statements of sending a message and using Lane’s notoriety in a positive way, State Attorney said that a message like this is like a double edged sword. He remarked that children where mentioned several times and that we should think twice about this. Do we want to send this message that could be interpreted differently by the demographics spoken of? The message could be also interpreted to read that if I grow up to be a celebrity, I can get away with bad things. This is not the type of message we want to be sending out to our youth.

After hearing from both sides and with no further statements, Judge Burger recessed for 20 minutes to makes his decision. When the Judge returned, he stated that he found that this was an isolated incident and therefore had opted to downgrade the sentence recommended by the State guidelines. He did agree with the State as to not wanting to send out the wrong type of message and asked Billy Lane to rise. With the downward departure, Judge Burger sentenced Billy Lane to 6 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections to be followed by 3 years of probation. The Judge also suspended Lane’s driving privileges for life along with orders to pay court cost and cost of investigation. The Judge had also sentenced Lane to take a DUI driver awareness class, but later dropped that provision when Eisenmenger stated that Mr. Lane had already completed the class.

Billy Lane was the taken into custody and escorted out of the courtroom with his family and friends shouting we love you Billy.

Edit: I am adding a video that I shot using my Canon Power Shot. It took me a bit to convert and as you can see my regular job set me back on getting this story posted to bein with.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, motorcycle news, motorcycles, law, court, sentencing, melbourne, florida

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(Viera, Florida) Billy Lane was sworn in today for the first time since his arrest almost 3 years ago for DUI Manslaughter causing the death of Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock. Attorney Greg Eisenmenger entered a plea of “no contest” on behalf of Billy Lane before Judge Burger explained the governing rules of the plea. Judge Burger then began to ask Lane the standard questions regarding a plea. There was a slight hesitation of yes your honor when the Judge asked Billy about his mental state. The Judge then asked State Attorney Tom Brown to state the cause for charges filed.

The plea today was entered against the charge of vehicular homicide which was filed late in the case by the state. After the hearing, Attorney Eisenmenger stated that they had been contesting and battling against the DUI and the mishandling of the blood work. Eisenmenger made a point to brief the court of what his plans were to bring forth mitigating circumstances to curtail Lane doing any time in prison. He suggested that Lane would instead be held accountable by means of probation or house arrest and listed other terms of a possible agreement. Some of terms mentioned were that Billy Lane’s drivers license be revoked for life, that he attend drug and alcohol abuse programs and that he would do community service as the court found fit.

Billy Lane left the court room as reporters asked him to comment, however Attorney Greg Eisenmenger told us that Lane would not be making any comments at this time. Lane has not commented publicly about the incident yet.

Outside the court room Attorney Greg Eisenmenger answered questions from reporters. When asked if he was satisfied with a 9 year prison sentence, he responded that he intends to bring forward mitigating circumstances to in hope of working out a deal in which Lane would not be incarcerated. Eisenmenger stated that ultimately the final judgement would be up to the court and could be anywhere from a amount of time probation or house arrest up to the low side of the guidelines which would call for 9 years imprisonment. He was also asked about how Billy was doing and what he was doing. Eisenmenger stated that he did not make a habit of following his clients day to day life, however he felt that Billy was still working in the motorcycle industry as he was. He went on to say that Billy has shown remorse for what happened and even at some points more remorse than what he had been advised.

Sentencing has been scheduled for August 14.

I contacted Byron Morelock, the brother of the victim Gerald Morelock after the hearing and he released the following statement:

As most of you already know, my family has been following this case from day one.
The Plea today is not a surprise.
It is true that this case has taken a long time to get to this point, however,
I have always attempted to have faith in the system.
There are many different and diverse opinions out there concerning every aspect of this case. That in itself, demonstrates how our country
Can be so diverse yet held together like timeless glue.
I have been in contact with all parties involved in an attempt to find ways
to turn this tragedy into a more positive outcome. In my heart I know that this is what my Dear Brother Gerry would have wanted. I want people to understand that I am handling this as Gerry has shown me, not necessarily as I want.
I would like to thank so many people for their prayers and good wishes and support

sincerely,
Byron & Seany Morelock

Technorati Tags: billy lane, motorcycle news, melbourne, florida, motorcycles, viera, DUI, court, law

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Recently elected to the chair, Judge Robert Burger had inherited a massive overflow of lingering cases left undecided by previous Judge Meryl Allawas. Though Judge Burger made no formal announcement, he appeared determined to clear up the case load and stood firm on keeping a solid schedule to clear the docket of the older cases. As each case was called he explained to the parties that they needed to ready their case without any further postponement.

Billy Lane had been facing the single felony charge of DUI Manslaughter for over two years up until last month when a additional charge of vehicular homicide was filed. When the Judge called for the case of the State of Florida verses William Lane,  defense  attorney Eisenmenger stepped forward and made a surprise statement that he had resolved the case with the Sate and they were working on a plea. State Attorney Tom Brown stepped forward to acknowledge the plea bargain, but then both attorneys approached the bench and talked with the Judge for about 2 minutes.

It was not stated for the record what type of agreement had been made and there was no mention of when an official announcement might be heard. The next date posted for a hearing is on February 9th, but that date may be cancelled until the two parties reach their final agreement. I spoke with Byron Morelock by telephone and he confirmed that he would be involved in the agreement, but he was not able to give me any more specifics on dates or times either. He seemed to be relieved that the case is finally growing to an end, but stated that no mater the final outcome it will remain a sad fact that nobody wins in a case of this nature. Byron Morelock is the brother of  Gerald Morelock who was the victim in this case. Gerald Morelock was killed back in September of 2006 when the Dodge pickup Billy Lane was driving struck him head on. Lane showed no emotion as the announcement was made and appears to have accepted the fact that he will not have to stand trial for the the two charges now that arrangements are being made that will decide his final fate in this case. While it was said that Lane could receive as much as 15 years in prison if convicted of either charge, the State Attorney had previously stated that a plea bargain would not be accepted for anything less than 10 years. Still, even after the announcement today, the exact amount of time still remains unknown.

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Lane is scheduled for a hearing today at 1:30 pm in the criminal case where he is still facing charges of DUI Manslaughter.

More on this story as it unfolds.

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Brevard County, Florida has seen two days of fires that have destroyed over 50 homes and still threatens more houses and businesses. Interstate 95 has been closed off and on during the day today while many Palm Bay and Malabar schools have been shut down due to the threat of approaching fires and smoke.

Florida Governor Crist declared Brevard County in a state of emergency at 4:00 this afternoon as firefighters from nearby counties had already been in action helping the local fire departments try to contain the fires that spread from Cocoa to Malabar.

 Homes and local businesses were threatened this afternoon when a large brush fire broke out near the intersection of Wickham Road and Parkway in Melbourne. Brevard County Fire Rescue has established a brush fire information line at 321-637-5550 to provide information about brush fire activity, evacuations and other critical information.

Gerry, a homeless veteran and friends had set up camp in the brush that was on fire behind the 7-11. He sat helplessly worried about all of his worldly belongings that he had to leave behind in the wooded area that was blazing with fire. Many of the employees of the businesses located next to the 7-11 were also gathered around and watching in concern as the flames approached the buildings where they worked.
 

Local 6 camera man and reporter Erik von Ancken rush in to cover the brush fire. Brevard County has been on the news on local television and across the nation as the concern and likely hood of more fires in the area grow. We have not had much rain in weeks and the dry areas combined with the winds in past few days bring the threat of more fires.

Authorities have announced that they suspect arson to be the cause in at least 9 of the fires started in the Palm Bay area. Crime line is offering up to a $10,000.00 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person that may have been responsible for causing the fires that have damaged over 50 homes and thousands of acres of land. If you have any information that might be of help please call 1-800-423-TIPS.

While the Brevard County fire rescue have been working hard to contain the fires, the dry brush and winds have been keeping them busy. Many residents have lost their homes and belongings. The Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 300 Malabar Road SE, Palm Bay.

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Here is a tip for my local readers. Head on over to Wolfy’s river deck bar and grill in Sanford, Florida on Saturday February 2nd and hear The Mob. The Mob Band does classic rock and blues, you can hear a little taste of what this band sounds like at The Mob Band web site.

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The hospital medical records of Melbourne, Florida custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane will now be allowed to be used as evidence in the DUI Manslaughter case against him. Choppers Inc. owner Billy Lane is facing criminal charges resulting from the Labor Day weekend crash of 2006 that left Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock dead. The victim, Gerald Morelock was killed when he was hit head on by the Dodge pickup that Lane was driving at the time. Witnesses claim that Lane was speeding and had crossed a double yellow line in an attempt to pass 3 vehicles on State Road A1A when the crash occurred.

Billy Lane and his passenger, Erin Derrick were both taken to Holmes Regional hospital in Melbourne after the crash with injuries, Lane and Derrick were treated and released. Prosecutors in the DUI Manslaughter trial had filed a motion with the court to obtain copies of Lane’s medical records to be examined and possibly used as evidence in the case.

Judge Meryl Allawas ruled in favor of the motion on Tuesday allowing Lane’s medical records to be used in the trial. The defense attorneys for Lane argued that the records should not be allowed and contend that they are private. Defense attorney, Greg Eisenmenger has filed a motion to suppress the blood work taken from Billy Lane after the crash. Eisenmenger’s Motion In Limine says the state failed to comply with Florida Department of Law Enforcement rule 11D-8.012(5). The motion says that he has discovered that blood was not properly handled by not being refrigerated as required by the FDLE code.

FDLE Code 11D-8.012(5) states: “Blood samples need not be refrigerated if submitted for analysis within seven (7) days of collection, or during transportation, examination or analysis. Blood samples must be otherwise refrigerated, except that refrigeration is not required subsequent to the initial analysis”.

The burden of proof will be on the State of Florida to demonstrate they have complied with the FDLE rules.  The defense also filed a motion for independent blood analysis, but Judge Allawas is not happy with the independent lab being located so far away and has not ruled on the motion yet. Independent toxicologist Lawrence Masten of Largo, Florida has been retained by the defense to analyze the blood work, but the lab he uses, Rocky Mountain Instrumental Labs is located in Ft. Collins, Colorado thousands of miles away.

Custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane, shown above with defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger has been present in court during the last few calendar calls. Eisenmenger has several motions to suppress the blood work yet to be heard by the court including the Motion To Limine (mentioned above) and another “motion to suppress the blood draw and resulting test”.

The motion to suppress the blood draw and resulting test was filed on September 28th, 2007 and states that the attending paramedic the night of the crash had detected the odor of alcoholic beverage in the cab of the vehicle and on the passenger. The same paramedic that provided that information did not detect any alcoholic beverage coming from the Defendant, Billy Lane. However, the paramedic did detect an obvious odor of alcoholic beverage from the passenger when he treated her. The female passenger in the truck on September 4, 2006 was 22 year old Erin Derrick of Rockledge, Florida.

The motion also states that registered nurse, Wayne Stewart, withdrew the blood from the Defendant as directed by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Davis. Nurse Stewart testified that he did not detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Billy Lane at or before the blood draw.

the final paragraph of the motion reads: “Withdrawal of blood without consent is only permitted when an officer has knowledge of an accident involving death or serious bodily injury and some evidence that the suspect is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Troopers Taylor and Davis, even taking into account the information known to trooper Corbett (but not communicated to Davis or Taylor) did not have any evidence of the Defendant being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the blood draw, so the draw is illegal. Because the draw was illegal, the Defendant is likewise entitled to suppression of the blood test results.”

These motions are expected to be heard before the court on November 6, 2007 at 9:00 am. The actual trial of Billy Lane is not expected to start until early 2008. Lane could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted on the non capital murder charge of DUI Manslaughter.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, motorcycle news, DUI, manslaughter, drunk driving, court, celebrity justice, Melbourne, Florida, choppers inc

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Joe Santana and Motley Jackson can be seen at Boot Hill Saloon ( both locations), Thunder Gulch and Cabbage Patch Bar Check the band schedule here.

Rebel Son will be appearing at the Boot Hill both locations.

Iron Horse Saloon has no schedule posted, so just drop in and see what is happening! Be sure to check out the California Hell Riders on the Wall of Death while you are there.

Broken Spoke Saloon featured artist concert, see Bret Michaels ( Poison front man) on October 20th

Blackfoot will be performing live at the White Eagle Lounge in Korona on October 19

The Battlegrounds presents “The Monsters of Mock” mega tribute rock and roll band show! Two shows the 19^th and 20^th 3pm to 9pm 5 monster rock tribute bands will hit the stage sounding and looking like the real bands. Highway to Hell (AC/DC) Stones Throw (Rolling Stones) Physical Graffiti (Led Zeppelin) ZZ Not (ZZ Top) and Fleetwood Max (Fleetwood Mac) with two show dates this is one concert series you won’t want to miss.

Women’s Coleslaw Wrestling on Saturday 12:00 noon at The Cabbage Patch Bar Samsula, Florida. Cabbage Patch has added streaming video on the bar web site.

Pudding Wrestling at the No Name Saloon on Friday 10:00 am with other contest and live music during the weekend.

Saturday October 20^th drop on by the Daytona Lagoon water park to see some the finest looking custom motorcycles in the world at the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show.

This entertainment list is not a complete listing of all the things to do during Biketoberfest, but I have put together some of the top places to listen to free live concerts and have fun. Of course, all events are subject to change and it is suggested that you check the web site links provided or call ahead to verify. This list may also be updated from time to time before my departure for Daytona late tomorrow, Friday. Check back for  more information.

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Meet the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a protected wildlife species found mostly in northern and central Florida and some parts of southern Georgia but have been found to be declining in numbers.

I took a ride over to Erna Nixon Brevard County Park to see if I could find a gopher tortoise to photograph. This county park is known to have this particular form of protected wildlife roaming the area. I asked the ranger where I might find a gopher turtle, but she told me that they are usually not out until later afternoon.

I decided to walk my way up the nature trail and see if I would get lucky even though it was just after twelve noon. I walked up the path til I reached the wetland area of the park with no luck. Then took a walk up the opposite side of the trail to the wetlands and still had not spotted a turtle. As luck would have it, as I was exiting the trail just past the main pavilion I spotted this big guy chomping on some grass.

Many bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts ride the “loop” when visiting the Volusia County area including Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach during the two big Florida Motorcycle events every year. Bike Week and Biketoberfest attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to this area and most will make plans to ride the loop during these events.

Many of you readers have noticed the signs “Save the Loop” posted in homes and along the 23 mile stretch of road from Daytona to Ormond Beach. The loop is a natural habitat for the gopher tortoise and like the turtle, this land is threatened by development. One such development called Plantation Oaks brings threat to this enjoyable natural Florida scenic ride as well as the lives of over 900 gopher turtles. Read Permit to Kill to see more on how this developer bought his way through a permit loop hole.

It is sad to see more and more of the natural Florida ecosystem losing out to high dollar homes and multi-million dollar golf courses. Along with the natural beauty and surroundings of this land we are also killing off our wildlife, like the gopher tortoise.

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We hit Sanford early morning for bikefest, not sure why we left so early, but we did. We hit the local McDonalds for breakfast and I am really not sure why we did, but we did. After killing time in town with breakfast and stopping to get some super 8 tape, we rolled back into the event area close to 9:00 am.

With fall here, which we do not experience in Florida, the days are getting shorter so the early morning lighting sucks for taking pictures. The back neighborhood streets are beginning to remind me of Daytona Beach with the ride quiet signs as WESH channel 2 news reports complaints about the noise.

Local news reports an expected growth for the Sanford motorcycle event, but if there was it seemed minimal to me. There did seem to be a larger amount of biker event vendors. There were more tattoo vendors then the previous year and more parts and accessory vendors made the walk down East Seminole a little more interesting.

One truly notable vendor we came across was Redz Custom Airbrush where their motto is “boring paint should be a crime”. The custom airbrush paint work on this bike was anything but boring. The amount of work spent on the detail of this paint shows right down to the rivets.

The Can-Am Spyder demo rides were a big hit. You could see trails of these things buzzing around the area all day.

A pretty unique 3 wheel vehicle called the Spyder Roadster powered by the Rotax V990 engine. I listened as most of the comments of the demo riders were positive.

This year the Bikefest visitor’s were treated to two stunt rider shows. About every hour and a half there was a street bike stunt show followed up by motocross jumpers.

These riders were good, performing 3 at a time doing wheelies, stoppies and burnouts. They had a pretty awesome finish to the show were all 3 bikes would slide in together and the rider would dismount. The kind of stuff you do not do on the open roads.

They moved the bike show out to the main event area this year which was kind of nice, but from a photographer’s view the grass could have been cut deeper before opening day.

I needed to find a nice looking purple motorcycle to submit to the Flickr Lupus Awareness group purple photos and I found this sharp looking custom built by JZ Riders of Sanford. I looked through most of the pictures that had been submitted to help create Lupus awareness and I had not seen any motorcycles, so I think I was able to send in something unique with this motorcycle picture.

I guess these pie eating contests are going to come back into style at motorcycle events. I shot the contest this year at Leesburg and Sanford now too. If Daytona decides to have an eating contest, I am hoping they will do Krystal hamburgers. I can eat a sack load of those little guys.

Daytona Biketoberfest is coming up this weekend!

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Well its time for the end of the year wrap of of motorcycle events in Florida. With Biketoberfest only a week away, many locals will be heading out to Sanford Bikefest for a warm-up weekend.

Looking back on last year this time, I posted about the upcoming Bikefest, but I failed to post a followup on what happened at the weekend 2006 Florida motorcycle event.

Last year we stayed for all 3 days of the event and as we do for all motorcycle events we took along the tent to enjoy some camping. There is not a whole lot of camping areas around the Sanford area, which is surprising being there are many miles of undeveloped true Florida land.

A little search on Google netted us one of the nicest camping areas around. Lake Mills Park is a great place to pitch a tent and spend the weekend and is fairly close to Fort Mellon Park in Sanford where Bikefest is held.

This year we will only be visiting Sanford Bikefest on Saturday. The event is rather small and most of what there is to do and see can be done in one day.

We caught up with a few unusual motorcycles and modes of transportation last year. Notice anything unusual about this bike? Yep, you got it. This motorcycle has not one, but two kickstands!

This guy was demonstrating how to get to Sanford by water riding on a self propelled surfboard.

East Seminole Blvd. runs adjacent to Lake Monroe and is closed to motorcycle traffic only during Bikefest. You can catch some good motorcycle pictures along this road and a few more at the bike show early morning.

The Sanford Police motorcycle division had a little fun when JZ Riders Customs let them all take a spin around the block on the new line of Saxon motorcycles they had on display in the main Bikefest area.

Orlando radio station personality Shannon Burke rides the 104.1 “Real Bike” along with the parade of custom motorcycles.

One good thing about a smaller venue like the Sanford Bikefest is when its concert time, you can get right up close to the bands. Last year it was a treat to kick back and listen to Deep South. Check out the members of this band :

Artimus Pyle (formerly of Lynyrd Skynyrd), Robert Nix (formerly of Atlanta Rhythm Section), Jimmy Hall (formerly of Wet Willie), Hal McCormack, Dean Daughtry (formerly of Atlanta Rhythm Section), Chris Hicks (formerly of Marshall Tucker Band)

While Deep South was on stage, I got the special treat of chatting with Gene Odom who was Ronnie Van Zant’s personal bodyguard, security for the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. Gene was on hand promoting his books and selling autographed copies.

Sanford Bikefest is small, but big enough to enjoy a day or two checking out some of the local custom motorcycle builder’s new creations, meet up with friends and enjoy the free concerts.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle events, bikefest, sanford, Florida, rides, music, custom motorcycles, events

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Cabrera has a lengthy arrest history dating back to 1995, police said. He has two prior DUI arrests. If convicted, he might face a maximum term of 15 years. The accident occurred a before 8 p.m. Traffic homicide investigators continued to work at the scene late into the night. Traffic flow at the intersection was affected for hours. Those trying to go north on Minton Road near Emerson Drive were being directed to use alternative routes.

The above is a article that was published in Florida Today September 28, 2007 written by reporter Kaustuv Basu. Readers of this blog know that I rarely use re posts from other sources. However, somehow this story slipped on without my knowledge and it caught my eye yesterday in the Florida Today breaking news forums. My sincere condolences and sympathy go to the family of the victim, Nicoli Puglisi and prayers are for his son who survived the crash. From what I have read in the story chat, the child has undergone surgery and is still in ICU at the Orlando hospital he was air lifted to. There is talk of a fund being set up to help the family and when I get that information I will post it here for those who wish to contribute.

This story is disturbing in itself, and struck up some serious debate in the forum.  As in many stories of this nature where the writer makes mention of whether the rider was wearing a helmet or not, the great helmet debate ensues. Many times as in this particular case the helmet issue clouds the discussion over the greater issues. Another human life was taken of a motorcyclist by a person driving under the influence (DUI) in a automobile. Moreover, this man, Jose Ramon Cabrera has a long history of traffic infractions that include two previous arrests for DUI.

The last two posts in the story chat really caught my attention.

WHAT???!!! At first I didn’t/couldn’t believe what Nala41 posted, but it’s completely true. This piece of crap was let out of jail, committed yet ANOTHER running a light infraction and gets a friggen TICKET??? By the way, scum bags court date is November 28. Posted by: sweet_vindication on Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:19 pm

Well, I could not believe this myself. So I pulled the case to see if it could have been an error. To think that Mr. Cabrera could be out on bail and committed this careless driving offense days later was unimaginable. A Florida driver license check brought back the following information:
As of Oct 12, 2007, at 08:07 PM, driver license number C166-436-67-161-0 will soon be CANCELED, SUSPENDED, REVOKED, or DISQUALIFIED. Reason listed refuse to submit to breath/urine/blood test.

The citation that was issued in case  05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX  indicated that the citation was NOT issued to Mr. Cabrera while driving days later as it appeared. It was issued as a summons request on 9/27/2007 and given to the Brevard county Sheriff office to be served. In fact as of today Jose Cabrera is still being held at the Brevard county jail under $320,000.00 bond. The record on case 05-2007-CF-061893-AXXX-XX reflects that Cabrera was arrested on the date of the crash and charged with DUI felony third or subsequent offense, DUI Manslaughter, DUI serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage. You will notice that the Case Type is Non Capital Murder for these charges. The Case Type for case number 05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX is Traffic Infraction.

No dates have been set for docket soundings and the second appearance originally scheduled for 10/26/2007 has been canceled.

UPDATE 10/14: for the next 10 days donations can be sent to

Ronald MCdonald House Room #4

Arnold Palmer Medical Center

Att. Vincent Puglisi

1630 Kuhl Ave.

Orlando, Florida 32806

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/BREAKINGNEWS/309280005

Technorati Tags: brevard county, driving drunk, DUI, fatal crash, florida, motorcycle news, palm bay

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(Viera, Florida)Famed custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane was present in court today as his attorney Gregory Eisenmenger argued his motion revolving around the blood work that has remained an issue for the past few months. Eisenmenger has asked that Lane’s blood work be looked at by his expert witness Lawrence Masten. So far the only thing that Masten has appeared to have done was view the blood work and from this viewing he has determined that there may have been a problem with the seal. The blood work was taken from Billy Lane over 45 minutes after the September 4, 2006 crash that left Melbourne Beach resident 56 year old Gerald Morelock dead. Lane was charged with 3 charges after it was determined that he has a blood alcohol content of .192 more than twice the legal limit of .08 allowed by Florida Law. The original charges that were filed against Billy Lane were DUI MANSLAUGHTER, DWLS RVKD OR CNCLD WITH SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH, DUI SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. The State dismissed two of the charges back on 10/19/2006 leaving only the DUI Manslaughter charges pending. The DUI Manslaughter charges as of today are still pending with two new 1 hour hearings to be announced.

Attorney Gregory Eisenmenger told the court that his expert witness has determined that there may have been some leakage from the vial holding Lane’s blood not being properly sealed. Toxicologist Lawrence Masten says he suspects this because the blood volume appears to be low in the vial. Eisenmenger is asking that his expert be allowed to examine the blood in a lab to see if it may have been contaminated. However, Masten does not have a lab of his own and the lab he uses is in Colorado. The state objected Lane’s blood work being sent to Colorado when it could be easily tested at a closer lab in Brevard County. The court agreed with the states objection and questioned as to why it would be necessary to send the blood to another state. State Attorney Samantha Barrett suggested a closer lab used at Wuesthoff rather than sending the blood work such a great distance. Attorney Eisenmenger immediately interrupted stating ” We don’t like Wuesthoff”. Judge Allawas said that it appeared that it would be necessary to hear more about the blood work and reasons for the lab work, especially noting the objection to the DUI evidence having to be transported so far away. No date was set for this hearing today and will be announced at a later date. There is also a date to be announced in which a motion will be heard on the use of Lane’s medical records as evidence in the case.

Billy Lane is facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the criminal DUI Manslaughter charges that are still pending.

Next docket sounding for this case is currently scheduled for November 6, 2007

Technorati Tags: billy lane, court, drunk driving, dui, dui defense, dwi, celebrity DUI, florida, melbourne

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(Melbourne, Florida) Billy Lane, the media and the court waited for the scheduled 2:30 hearing toady at the Brevard County court house in Viera, Florida. Just as the judge asked the court bailiff to have someone call the office of Lane’s attorney, Greg Eisenmenger, 10 minutes late Eisenmenger and assistant attorney Robert Berry entered the court room.

The court asked for a pretrial conference today to gain an idea on the exact status of the criminal DUI Manslaughter case that Choppers Inc. owner and custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane still faces since his arrest on September 25th of last year. After accepting apologies from  Defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger for his being late, Judge Allawas asked both attorneys to report on the status of the case. Eisenmenger told the court that his expert witness was not able to view the blood work taken from Lane after the crash that killed Sebastian park ranger, Gerald Morelock on September 4th 2006. The blood work was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab and showed a blood alcohol level of .192 for Billy Lane which lead to the charges he now faces. Attorney Eisenmenger said that he expects his expert witness to view the blood work by the 31st of this month and will know then in what form he will file new motions to suppress the evidence. Eisenmenger stated that he intends to file a motion to suppress the blood work evidence either way, but the findings of his expert witness will have an effect on how it will be filed. The court set a target date of September 28th for those motions to be filed.

State attorney Mike Brown stated that he anticipated filing motions as well depending on motions filed by the defense and asked that he be notified as to the name of the expert witness and his qualifications. Billy Lane’s attorney added that after his expert witness completes his findings he would be ready for trial within 4 to 6 weeks and said that he feels the trial should be scheduled to take 8 to 10 days to be heard.

After hearing the status of the case from both sides Judge Allawas stated that she expected the case to be set for trial near the first of next year, very close to the first she added.

Next pretrial conference is set for October 10th at 9:00 a.m. 

Technorati Tags: billy lane, choppers inc, court, dui, hearing, melbourne florida, motorcycle news

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